Bits

Started dull and cool then rain by lunch but brighter in the afternoon but only just. The rest of the country had wall to wall sunshine. The space in front of our bus stop is for loading and unloading and is clearly marked "Loading Only. 8am to 6pm". Nothing about, unless you are from out of town or you are only going to be five minutes or you don't thing rules apply to you. Nothing about not being able to read either. I have tried warning a couple of motorist not to park in the bay but I'm only a bus driver so what would I know. I have given up warning people, it doesn't work. Anyway the photo shows the car with a parking ticket in the loading bay. The last person I warned had a Blue Badge and told me he could park anywhere, which is true, anyone can park anywhere. Some places however the risk of getting a ticket is pretty high. Like here.






What you can also see in the photo to the right are a few Motor Bikes. There are hundreds of them in town this weekend, most parked on Paignton Sea Front but if you stand still long enough they will all ride past. Don't worry, It isn't the Wild Ones in town for some mayhem, it's just a social gathering that takes place this weekend and every Wednesday through the summer. Got a bike; bring it to Paignton and say hello. It's run by BMAD .


Tomorrow there is a gathering of old open top buses at Quaywest, a mile from Paignton Town centre. Catch a 12 heading towards Brixham and have a ride round on one of these old masters. Car drivers can park, not for free in Torbay Leisure Centre just across the road.

Persistent Would Be Passenger.

I was driving out of Brixham when an other driver came over on the radio warning the next bus at Eugene Rd heading for Paignton that a person wanted to bring a bike on the bus. Seven or eight minutes later the next driver bus driver said he had refused a would be passenger who wanted to bring a bike on the bus. He also said the person had been a bit abusive. Eight minutes later the next driver got on the radio and asked control if he was right to refuse to carry a bike. Control agreed, we don't carry bikes on the bus. An other seven minutes later the bike and owner of bike were still at Eugene Rd and control stated that buses did not carry bikes. The owner of the bike by this time was very abusive. A fifth bus driver also explained the bike could not be carried one the bus. Before the next bus arrived at Eugene Rd I had arrived in Paignton for my break and I didn't hear if the bike owner had an other try. 38 minutes before the bike owner gave up. What I call persistence.

Biker Notice

The Newton road between Torquay and Newton Abbot is a two lane, single carriageway, 40 mph road. It is one of the busiest roads in the South West. Just about everyone agrees that we need a bypass round Kingskerswell, shown in the picture. Even David Cameron, that well known cyclist and also believed by some to be boss of the Tory party thinks we should have a bypass. The Department for Transport agree we should have a bypass but every time we ask for the money, they ask us to do a traffic count as the last one we did is now two years out of date. So the traffic count is done at great cost to the local councils and the send the figures sent off to the Department for Transport who also agree we need a bypass but unfortunate there isn't any money available, please ring back in a year or two. When we do they say yes but your last traffic count is now out of date, could you do an other one. The process then gets repeated every two years. The money we have spent so far on traffic counts would have paid for half the bypass.

Anyway the only way to go fast on this road is to believe that 5 mph is fast or buy a motor bike. Some of those who have chosen the latter now believe that doing 80 mph on blind bends 3 feet over the double white lines while overtaking a line of vehicles is the fast track to immortality. If having a bunch of flowers tied to a lamp post at the site of your accident is immortality than go for it. In order to be seen to be doing something about this problem the local council (Devon C.C. I think) have erected this and similar notices along the road. What the notices should say is, "Bikers, Please be aware that there are car drivers ahead who have been stuck on this road for hours and might suddenly decide to open their car doors and get out and have a picnic to pass the time. So watch out." or, "Bikers, There is an other idiot just like you coming the other way 3 feet over the double white line overtaking a line of slow moving vehicles, travelling at 60 mph and he just may be driving a bus. So watch out."